Salt

Article #2: Salt

The need of salt (concentrated sodium chloride) in human health and nutrition is another of the great myths of modern times.

Salt is a deadly poison, a terrible abusive irritant to human tissue. This can be confirmed by anyone by sniffing salt water and experiencing the terrible burning sensation as the delicate sinus membranes are irritated, by putting salt water into the eyes and experiencing the burning sensation while observing the rush of blood to the eyes to protect their delicate membranes (bloodshot), by putting salt on an open wound and experiencing the terrible burning sensation as the tissue is irritated and destroyed, or by drinking a concentrated salt solution and experiencing vomiting as the body acts to repel this foreign and toxic substance.

Salt is not synthesized or processed in any way in the body and serves no useful purpose. It enters as sodium chloride, it is stored as sodium chloride, it is excreted as sodium chloride. It leaves a trail of destruction from the time it enters until the time it can be excreted.

When excessive salt (that which the body cannot immediately excrete) is deposited everywhere in the fluid medium of the billions of living body cells causing extreme irritation, injury and death to the cells, the cells send forth a desperate SOS signal and the person gets thirsty and drinks a lot of water. This water is carried by the blood and deposited in the tissue fluids to dilute the devastating effects. This results in excessive body fluids, edema.

The body takes every opportunity to excrete this salt—constantly through the urine, at even limited or almost no exertion by profuse sweating, through crying (tears), etc.

In one experiment one of the authors ate typical restaurant salads (with the usual amount of salt in the dressings) for one meal and supplemented the salad meal with a few “no salt added” crackers (containing only whole wheat flour and salt in the baking of the crackers themselves) with commercial old fashioned peanut butter which contained only ground peanuts and salt. The next day his one-meal for the day consisted of his usual fresh vegetable salad without any dressing or seasoning supplemented by a bowl of commercial soup containing the usual amount of salt plus some of the same kind of crackers and peanut butter eaten the previous day.

The author’s thirst became very pronounced during both days and he drank a considerable quantity of distilled water (his only drink).

The results of only this relatively small amount of consumed salt were astounding. The body retained a great deal of liquid to dilute the harmful irritation of the salt and resulted in the gain of eight pounds in body weight in only 2 days. In addition the absorption of so much water to counteract the salt damage resulted in a much less than usual amount of liquid in the feces leading to a drying-out or compacting effect as the first signs of constipation—a condition the author never experienced during eight years of a salt-free diet.

In addition to the above effects, signs of indigestion and ‘heart burn’ occurred after each meal as digestion was impaired, and, since all body cells were affected by the salt, a feeling of dullness and loss of energy resulted—conditions which never occurred during many years of salt-free dieting. Other noticeable effects were the puffing and bloating of the face and around the eyes.

The two-day (only two meals) experiment was so extreme in its negative effects that the author ended it and resumed his regular no-salt diet. It required approximately two days for his body to eliminate the accumulated salt and water and return to its normal weight and health.

Salt is a true anti-biotic (against all life, a killer). It was formerly used as an embalming agent. It is used today as a ‘preservative’—killing the bacteria (life) to prevent the natural decomposition of dead organisms.

Cramps initially experienced as salt is removed from the diet or rapidly excreted from the body are nothing more than “withdrawal symptoms.”

A healthy person on a salt-free diet will experience these same cramps if he eats salt.

Salt eating is an addiction begun prenatally and shortly after birth as the parents force salt into the baby to the extreme repulsion and disgust of the child. After a few weeks of forced eating the baby’s body becomes so weakened that it forms a craving and addiction. This continues throughout its life.

In order to fully understand the disaster of salt eating, let’s briefly follow the path of salt from the time it enters the mouth until it is excreted from the body. Remember, salt has nothing to do with the sodium needs or excesses of the body. Salt is sodium chloride first, last and always from the time it enters the body until the time it is discharged. If it were broken down into its primary constituents, sodium and chlorine, as it passed through the body the tragedy would be complete since both inorganic sodium and inorganic chlorine are highly destructive to life and would immediately render a human lifeless.

As the salt enters the mouth in food or drink (or as a deadly salt ‘pill’) the cells of the lips and lining of the mouth (including gums and tongue) are severely irritated, with many killed and the rest seriously weakened.

In a healthy body the first line of defense will be instantly activated with a severe and intolerable stinging and burning sensation as the tissue cells are destroyed and the irritation and distress is imposed upon nerve cells. The natural response to such sensation is to spit out the substance responsible for it so that the destruction will not proceed any further. A weak, unhealthy, salt-addicted and taste-perverted body is so depraved and depressed in its defensive capabilities that it not only tolerates but also demands more of the destructive addictive substance.

The cells of the mucous membrane of the throat, esophagus and stomach are the next to suffer the tragedy of death and destruction. As the irritant moves into the stomach the body’s second line of defense goes into action.

A healthy body will instantly signal a sensation of nausea and trigger violent contractions of the stomach to cause vomiting and prompt elimination of the salt. A weak unhealthy body will tolerate the irritation and permit it to continue its journey of destruction as some of it is absorbed (assimilated) into the mucous membrane tissue and thence into the bloodstream, and the rest is emptied into the duodenum.

Upon reaching the duodenum, cellular distress is once again repeated. Since the trap door from the stomach has closed the only way for prompt discharge of the salt poison is through the intestines and bowels. A normal healthy body will respond with violent contractions of the intestinal muscles which produce a profuse flow of fluid from the mucous membranes to dilute the salt irritation and a rapid propulsion of the salt solution, and everything (all other ingested substances) suspended in it or ahead of it, through the intestines for a violent watery discharge from the anus (diarrhea). A weak unhealthy body will of course fail to actively respond to the salt, and the salt solution and imperfectly digested foods will be absorbed (assimilated) through the intestinal walls and thence into the bloodstream.

At this point the healthy body has rid itself of the salt irritant by spitting it out, vomiting it up and/or excreting it in the form of diarrhea. The weak unhealthy body, on the other hand, has dully accepted the poison and passed it through the stomach and intestinal lining, destroying and injuring millions of cells as it goes. All digestive tract tissue cells have suffered as have all involved blood and lymph capillary cells. The blood carries the salt all over the body creating havoc with every cell. The kidneys which normally filter out small amounts of salt which accidentally accompany digested food into the blood are not equipped to handle large amounts since its own cells are destroyed and injured by the irritant. The liver, which filters and chemically detoxifies many poisons and toxins tries but is helpless to do anything with the very stable and strong sodium chloride molecules and suffers severe damage as the salt passes through it. The heart suffers. The brain suffers. All body cells suffer.

Once the salt is trapped in the body’s circulating fluids the body response is one of extreme thirst as the cell population screams and cries for relief from the destructive foreign irritant. Most of the fluids consumed by the person are quickly assimilated and dilute and expand the volume of blood plasma, resulting in higher blood pressure and pulse rate. This in turn forces more fluid into tissue spaces to dilute salt concentrations in an effort to relieve cell distress. The fluid accumulates and remains as edema.

The trail of distress, destruction and tragedy is total, having adversely affected every cell in the body. All surviving bodily defense mechanisms are activated to eliminate the salt through tears, sweat, urine, and mucus (excreted in the digestive and respiratory tracts).

More consumed salt intensifies the progressive destruction and deterioration of cells and leads to functional and structural failures through the body.